


Let's Just Live (Free)

by TheOtakuWithHazelEyes



Category: One Piece, RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, Gen, Straw Hats in Remnant, because why not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:21:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22133980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOtakuWithHazelEyes/pseuds/TheOtakuWithHazelEyes
Summary: On one world, Luffy finds his crew on the vast ocean, seeking the greatest of treasures and following their dreams.On another world, one of bloody evolution, there is no great treasure. But they still have dreams to follow, and each other.And that's all they really need.(Or, what if the Straw Hats were born on Remnant?)
Relationships: nakamaship - Relationship
Comments: 29
Kudos: 65





	1. Crimson Red

**Author's Note:**

> I had this crazy idea and made a couple posts about it on tumblr, but I thought I would explore it a bit here on AO3. I have ideas, and this fic is mainly to try to get a little bit of a feel for the scenario, so I kept it relatively simple. It was meant to be a one-shot, but it started to get waaaay too long so I broke it up into short chapters. It's mostly done, after the two chapters I posted today I'll post one chapter a day. 
> 
> I don't know how deeply I'm going to explore this AU- it'd be a series of one-shots to work on in my spare time if anything, since I'm in no position to commit myself to a singular long-term fic right now. I also don't know if everything depicted in this fic will carry over into any other works for it. Things need to be improved on, but I want to see the reception for this, if any. 
> 
> So read, review, and let me know what you think!

Luffy D. Monkey was born under the shadow of Atlas, in the amber glow and smoke of Mantle. And if he was perfectly honest (he had to be, he sucked at lying), that suited him just fine.

He would have gone crazy in the shiny, sterile environment of the floating kingdom above. If not from the snotty upper crust or the long list of societal rules and standards, then from the near-constant flack he would have gotten for the ringed lemur tail sprouting from the base of his spine. At least in Mantle if someone called you an animal or tried to yank your tail, you could deck them and no one would think less of you for it. Not that Luffy cared what people thought of him. If he wanted to deck someone he thought deserved it, he’d do it regardless.

He got into a lot of trouble that way. 

Besides, if Luffy didn’t live in Mantle, he never would have met Shanks and his band of nomads. He showed up at Makino’s bar when the young faunus was seven, with straw hat on his head, a swagger in his step, and tales of adventure on his lips. Shanks had traveled all over Remnant, been to places most humans never set foot and fought Grimm straight out of humanity’s nightmares. Luffy immediately thought he was the coolest person ever. 

Shanks wasn’t a huntsman.

_"Eh, me and Benn got some training under our belts. We just never got our licenses.”_

_“Why not?”_

_“I can’t speak for Benn, but for me? Someone showed me there was another way to live.”_

Luffy’s grandpa, Garp, was a huntsman. He was a high-ranking specialist in the Atlesian military, and a famous one for two reasons: first, for being the first faunus to reach specialist after their kind were permitted to join the military. Second, for still being a top-notch huntsman despite being so advanced in age. Hunting wasn’t a profession you grew old in, after all. 

Luffy didn't know this, or particularly care. He just knew that his grandpa was in the military and fully expected Luffy to follow in his footsteps, training him to do so. If you wanted to call activating his aura at five and sending him to beat up Centinals in old mine shafts training— which Luffy would for years afterward.

Shanks was the first one to teach Luffy that there was a whole world to explore outside of the threat of the Grimm and the boundaries of kingdoms. He taught him that you could be strong and protect what you loved without being beholden to a single title. The young faunus clung to these teachings fiercely, even after Shanks moved on.

_"The freest man on Remnant, huh? In that case, take this.”_

_“Huh?”_

_“This hat means the world to me. Take good care of it, and once you’ve done as you’ve said, return it to me. It’s a promise, Luffy.”_

Luffy spent the next few years training and arguing with grandpa. He developed his semblance, an odd ability to stretch and expand his aura around his body like rubber. (Garp had laughed and promised to introduce him to a “quiet brat” he knew with a similar ability once Luffy got into the academy.) He also tried to develop a weapon, but....

Well, the less spoken about that, the better. The fires were eventually brought under control, and the cats were expected to regrow most of their fur. 

At the same time, he met his brothers Ace and Sabo, and the three became unholy terrors on the thugs of Mantle and restaurant owners of Atlas. They swore to live their lives the way they wanted— Ace away from the stigma of his parentage, Sabo away from the stifling expectations of his family. They agree to set out into the world at seventeen, as that was that was the age you were an adult and eligible to enter Atlas Academy. 

Sabo didn’t make it. 

They pressed forward. 

Ace left first, riding out into the tundra of Solitas on his motorcycle. The shattered moon shone brightly overhead, and he only looked back to wave his little brother goodbye.

Finally, ten years after receiving his hat, it was his turn. Armed only with his grandfather’s training, his semblance, and a dust-infused steel pipe he stole from one of Sneeze-bastard's mines, Luffy hitched a ride on a dust transport to the coast and set out into the world of Remnant.

It was not ready for him.


	2. Moss Green

After an encounter with a fat gang leader and a determined crybaby named Coby, Luffy’s first stop was Argus. That was where he met Zoro, tied to a post in a courtyard at Fort Nubuck.

The usual lady in charge of Fort Nubuck was off in Atlas for a training exercise, and the temporary replacement bought even more into his own hype than she did hers— he ran the base like a dictatorship, and his admirers stalled any attempts to report him. Zoro had gotten on the wrong side of his entitled son while defending some locals from harassment, leading to the getting-tied up thing. 

It was two hours before Luffy utterly demolished the place. 

_" Hey, I hear you’re a pretty good guy! If I untie you, you have to come travel with me, okay?”_

_“What kind of dust have you been snorting? You can’t just decide that!”_

_“Too late, already did.”_

_“Now you’re just pissing me off!”_

Zoro eventually agreed. One sword retrieval and pardon later, they were on their way with an old military jeep Cordo-lady (who’d shown up just in time to grant said pardon) gave them when they promised to never step foot in Argus again. 

Zoro was a strange guy, but not in a bad way. He drank a lot, and slept a lot. When he wasn’t doing either of those, he was training. Zoro had one of the largest aura reserves Luffy had ever felt, but hadn’t developed a semblance. He also fought using three swords— three well-made, but perfectly ordinary swords. No gimmick, no firearms, no dust. He snarled at the thought of augmenting them in any way, especially the white sword. As a guy who preferred his fists and a pipe, Luffy had no issue with that. Anyone who did quickly ate their words when Zoro proved just how exceptional he was with those ordinary swords. 

He was also searching for someone. Zoro had initially tried to find him by enrolling at Haven, but they apparently kept moving the campus so he’d decided to travel and train on his own. (Luffy suspected he was just lost and told him so. Zoro told him to shut up.) He’d spent the last couple years traveling around Anima, fighting any swordsman who accepted a duel and occasionally turning in bounties for cash. He hoped to soon find a certain man, defeat him, and take his title as the greatest swordsman on Remnant. 

Until that day, he would honor their deal and fight by Luffy’s side no matter what danger they encountered. Once again, Luffy had no issue with that. 

_"I promised one day my name would reach the heavens— that I would do it through my own skill. No one’s going to accuse me of coasting by on a semblance. But you need strong people with you on your journey, don’t you? So until I take Hawkeye’s title, I’m never going to lose again! That alright with you, Luffy?”_

_“_ Shishishi _! Sounds good to me!”_

After all, the freest man wouldn’t settle for anyone less by his side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Subsequent chapters after Luffy's will be little shorter. It just worked out that way. The rest of crew may get more time shine when I get around to those one-shots I mentioned.


	3. Tangerine Orange

They met Nami when she stole their jeep.

They’d been lost for awhile, as it turned out that basic map-reading skills had been left out of both their educations. (Zoro would later cite this as a reason they should have asked the hag for passage on the Argus Limited instead of a car, but Luffy would argue it wouldn’t have been as much fun.) They stopped in Daidai village to ask for directions, and had only stepped out for a moment when she jumped into the driver’s seat and took off. They gave chase, and were soon joined by a group of thugs dressed like the world’s worst party clowns. As it turned out, Nami had stolen a map to a thief’s old dust stash, and the local gang didn’t appreciate being robbed.

All Luffy cared about was that this meant Nami could read a map. 

“ _Who the hell travels outside the kingdoms and doesn’t know how to read a basic map?! Are you_ trying _to get yourselves eaten_?!”

“ _No, of course not! I can’t die as food_ — _the irony!_ ”

After beating a flashy clown and a small debate over whether dying as food was ironic, Nami still hadn’t agreed to join their group. She did, however, agree to travel with them temporarily on two conditions: they didn’t get in her way, and they acted as her escorts out of Anima. 

Nami was just as weird as Zoro, if not more so. She wasn’t as good a fighter, even though she had a pretty cool weapon— a pair of taser-escrima sticks that could join and extend into a staff called Clima-tact. She always insisted on stopping in places just so she could steal, and using the boys as her getaway ride. Even weirder, she sometimes managed to plan her heists around freak storms that would stall any of her pursuers. But she was also loud all the time, and knocked his and Zoro’s heads together whenever they annoyed her, which was often. She groaned and sighed a lot, usually when he or Zoro revealed just how ill-prepared they were for the journey. That being said, she also began to laugh and smile more around them, be it from a particularly wacky escape, or a humorous argument during a card game, or beating Zoro in a drinking contest. She stopped to steal less and survey the landscape more with their help— for a "comprehensive map of Remnant," she said. It seemed that being around them thawed whatever ice had grown over her soul, and for all the times she claimed she wasn't staying, she never took any opportunity to leave. 

Still, Nami really, really wanted their help to get out of Anima. It wouldn’t be until much later, after traversing kingdoms, picking up more friends, and experiencing tragedy that she would tell him why with tears and flames streaming from her eyes.

“ _Don’t you get it?! I told you, she was never going to stop hunting me! People like her killed real huntsmen just to get my mother, what do you think they 're going to do to get me?_ ”

“ _Yeah, you told me_.”

“ _Then go! Get out! Leave, right now! Go, you bastard! Leave, Luffy! Go_!”

“ _..._ ”

“ _... Luffy? Help me._ ”

Did she even have to ask?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I put a little RvB reference in this- couldn't resist the opportunity. 
> 
> As for Nami's role in the RWBY world, her ability to manipulate weather just seemed to fit a certain role too perfectly. Once again, I couldn't resist.


	4. Hazard Yellow

Usopp was an interesting encounter for the trio, in that he’d already known of Luffy before they arrived in his little village. 

Not because he’d gotten word that an infamous group of thieves was making their way to Syrup Village, though this did lead to him setting up an admittedly impressive semiautomatic rig of two dozen slingshots in front of Syrup’s front entrance. As it turned out, he was the son of Yasopp— Shank’s group’s sniper— and despite his preferred nomadic lifestyle, the man kept in contact with his family when scroll reception allowed it. 

Luffy was ecstatic to have someone to swap stories with. 

“ _My dad must have gone on for hours about you. You really made an impression on him._ ”

“ _That’s nothing, he’d talk about you until my ears bled. How many times did you fall asleep_?”

“ _None, his stories were pretty— wait, you fell asleep when my dad talked about me?_ ”

The encounter turned out to be a lucrative one, for two reasons.

First, because in exchange for saving the village from an evil butler, they were gifted a Huntsmen Class Going RV by Usopp’s not-girlfriend, Kaya. The nice butler, Merry, had a hand in designing the line before retiring to serve Kaya’s family. Sleeping space, dust-efficient engine, weaponry for Grimm attacks _—_ Luffy had immediately dubbed the vehicle the Going Merry, as that was the only information he gleaned from the vehicle’s description. Second, because they got to add a skilled sniper and good friend _—_ who jumped at the chance to explore the world _—_ to their group. Kaya mentioned to Nami in a chat that while Yasopp sent money home, most had gone to his wife’s medicine and there hadn’t been enough left over for Usopp to attend combat school. Not to mention he’d failed several scholarship tests due to nerves and overall lack of rounded ability. 

There was truth there, for all that Usopp avoided it. He was definitely not a physical warrior despite all exaggerated claims to the opposite. His only weapon was a slingshot and a creative of array of ammunition, and his combat skills were almost nonexistent. He didn’t even have his aura unlocked until he joined up (Zoro and Luffy couldn’t for the life of them remember the chant, so they had Nami do it). But he was smart and brave... when it counted. He may have caught can’t-go-in-that-forest/canyon/river/village/tea house-or-I’ll-die disease on a regular basis, but when his new friends needed him most, he was there with a shaky grin and strong boast. That was his dream, after all; he wanted to be a brave, wandering warrior of Remnant, just like he was in his stories to Kaya. 

_“What’s with that look on your face? So what if the air is full of smoke and there’s Grimm everywhere?! We can still see the moon! We can still see the road out of here! This place isn’t hell! I can’t believe you’d let it end like this!”_

_“Usopp...”_

_“GET UP, YOU IDIOT BASTARD!”_

And even Luffy knew that on Remnant, the craziest stories carried a grain of truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only reason Yasopp never came home is because Shanks' group has made some powerful enemies. He didn't want to lead them back to Usopp and Banchina. Banchina also died a lot later than in canon, since medicine is more advanced on Remnant.


	5. Ocean Blue

Complying with Nami’s wishes, they’d skipped the city of Mistral for the time being and traveled to the coast. After running into a few of Zoro’s old friends, they paid for the Going Merry to be loaded onto a ship so they could set sail for Sanus. That was when they met Sanji. 

The ship they were meant to sail on was damaged in a Grimm attack and couldn’t cast off just yet. It was luckily docked in the port that held the world famous inn/restaurant, Baratie. While repairs were underway, Luffy got overzealous as per usual and wrecked the Baratie’s roof, earning himself the title of chore boy for the foreseeable future. It was very boring. However, it put Luffy in the perfect position to see the sous chef, Sanji, literally kick a snotty Atlesian lieutenant’s ass and give free food to a starving criminal. 

Sanji didn’t stand a chance.

_“Come on, come travel with us! It’ll be a lot of fun!”_

_“I told you, I refuse. I have unfinished business here, so find some other sucker to take on your whirlwind tour of Remnant.”_

_“Well, I refuse your refusal! You’re a cook and we need one, so it makes sense we travel together!”_

_“What kind of crappy logic is that?!”_

It took a duel between Zoro and Mihawk, an epic bandit fight, heavy-handed encouragement from Old Man Zeff, and assurance from “Nami-swan” that she would be staying with the group for awhile yet before Sanji was convinced to tag along. 

They quickly learned Sanji had three major loves: food, women, and his weapon, Diable Jambe. He was practically a wizard with the former, and a combination of a gentleman and a menace with the latter, especially given his camouflage semblance. (Nami learned she could trust him to bash a man’s head in for harming her. She also learned to time her showers for when he was asleep— at least until she realized she could charge him through the nose for it.) Diable Jambe was a set of armored boots that could shoot fire dust rounds with certain kicks. Sanji treasured the use of his hands too dearly to ever risk them with firearms or handheld melee weaponry _—_ it was just one of the reasons he loved his boots so much. The other reason, though he would never admit it, was that they were a gift from the old geezer when he’d completed his training in Red Leg style. The man raised him from childhood, and for all their bickering they cared about each other. 

After hearing Luffy was also from there, Sanji tentatively revealed he lived in Solitas before moving south when he was a child and ending up in the care of Zeff. No one pressed him on the details, especially not Luffy. The faunus didn’t care about such things to begin with, but he also understood. Atlas was cold and unforgiving. It could smother even the brightest of sparks. 

“ _Hey, you ever heard of the Aoi Garden?”_

_“The ow what?”_

_“You’re kidding! It’s a garden created by the God of Light, and holds every plant and animal imaginable. Hell, some even unimaginable! People say it’s just a legend, but I think it’s real.”_

_“That sounds awesome!_ ”

Luffy was glad Sanji never lost his. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two notes- one, All Blue wouldn't work in Remnant, so I hope my replacement works okay. Two, Sanji's semblance is blending in with his surroundings- not quite invisibility, but enough to make eyes skip over him unless they're really looking. I figured that sometimes semblances emerge because of a need (Jaune, Nora, etc), so what would a young Sanji need more than anything?
> 
> The ability to disappear.


	6. Sakura Pink

If it weren’t for the fact they got involved with a Vacuan princess (well, kingdoms didn’t have royalty anymore, but Vivi’s dad ran the largest settlement in Vacuo aside from the capital, so _basically_ a princess), they might have never run into Chopper. 

They agreed to escort her back to the Alabaster settlement so she could prevent a wannabe-warlord from destroying it, but unfortunately, the quickest way there was through the mountains. They had to leave Merry with an old man named Crocus and a middle-aged blue whale faunus named Laboon, and make the trek on foot. However, a Grimm attack led to Nami getting sick from a poisoned wound she didn’t tell anyone about. They made a detour to a village on Mount Drum, where they were told their best shot was a witch doctor living at the highest peak. There they found said witch doctor, Kureha, and her reindeer assistant, Chopper.

Well, reindeer faunus, but Luffy still thought he was neat. 

_“Come on, let’s say you and me be friends! I really, really, really like you, you know!”_

_“You... like me?”_

_“You’d make a great explorer!”_

_“Did... did you slip and hit your head while you were out on the ice? I don’t want to be your friend!”_

Luffy was refused by Chopper more in the three days spent waiting for Nami to recover than by the rest of his friends _combined_. It, at the very least, gave him and the others a time to learn about the boy. 

Chopper was a prodigy; a skilled doctor, even at the young age of sixteen. And while useful, it was the young faunus’ unique fighting style that initially drew Luffy to him. He was born with the semblance to feed his aura back into his body and expand his muscles. With experimentation with different herbs and chemicals, he’d created a pill called Rumble Balls that allowed him to get different effects with it. Larger antlers, more emphasis on his legs for jumping, increasing his mental-processing power— coupled with a set of dust-infused steel knuckles named Anesthesia, and he had a skill set that wowed Luffy and came in handy in the fight that occurred. 

Despite defeating the munch-munch bastard terrorizing the mountain and avenging Chopper’s foster father, he was not easily recruited into the group. While he had a normal faunus trait— his antlers— he also had a rare mutation where he was born with an additional reindeer nose. It was apparently enough to make him an outcast among humans and even other faunus. No matter how much he wanted to explore Remnant and discover a true panacea, Chopper genuinely believed he did not have a place with the group. 

_“I just wanted to say... thank you. For inviting me to travel with your group, I mean— it was really nice. I’m gonna stay with Doctorine for now, but if you wanted to, you could come visit-”_

_“SHUT UP! LET’S GO ALREADY!”_

They later learned the mountain cherry blossoms were visible even from Vale, and on that night no Grimm approached its walls. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been stressed that faunus only get one physical trait, but you can't tell me that there aren't a few rare mutations. Also, made Chopper a little bit older than he is when he meets the crew in canon, because I theorize that 17 is the legal adult age on Remnant. So if a sixteen year old goes off to travel, it's not so bad. 
> 
> And would his semblance actually work? Well, we have a girl who can burst into petals and a woman who can suck an entire transport car into herself. I'm going to say yes.


	7. Royal Purple

Robin Nico was the first member to ask to join their group as opposed to Luffy badgering her to. Which was a little awkward, considering mere days beforehand her boss had been trying to kill them. 

Not long after meeting Vivi, her bodyguard left to act as a decoy and was subsequently caught in a massive explosion. Robin, or rather, “Ms. All Sunday” appeared to take credit, steal Luffy’s hat, and leave. (She said some other stuff too, but those were the only parts Luffy paid any real attention to.) He didn’t see her again until they were in Vacuo, during the fiasco with the cage and his painful defeat at the hands of that damn sand croc. She saved him from quicksand and led Vivi’s winged huntsman friend to him. She asked why he fought, and about his middle initial. She seemed disappointed that he didn’t have an answer. 

Then later, while a tomb crumbled around them, he saved her. 

_“I told you, leave me! I have nothing left to live for!”_

_“Do what you want when we’re out of here, but I’m taking you with me.”_

_“You can’t-!”_

_“Why the hell should I listen to you anyway?”_

She stowed away on the caravan Vivi gave the group when they left the Alabaster settlement (they needed to meet Laboon at the border to pick up Merry), and she appeared to have taken Luffy’s suggestion to heart. She asked Luffy to take responsibility for her life. He agreed. Despite all of Zoro’s original claims to the contrary, it turned out to be a good decision. 

For starters, Robin had an awesome semblance— she could make purple glowing limbs bloom wherever she scattered petals created from her aura. She could wield six pistol-knives simultaneously or give Luffy arm-antlers like Chopper’s (that was the best hour that week). Second, she was just as interested in exploring Remnant as Luffy was. But while he wanted to explore for the sake of exploring, she wanted to explore it to discover its secrets. She told him stories of artifacts: ones that didn’t date in any of Remnant’s recorded history, ones depicting people dancing around an unbroken moon, ones engraved with iconography of a conqueror god and goddess. There was so much human and faunuskind didn’t know about themselves, and she wanted to learn it all. 

She wanted to learn it all, even though her long search had brought her and the people she cared about so much suffering. Luffy and others learned her history, eventually— Ohara, the ancient relics and artifacts the scholars studied, the unnatural horde of Grimm that descended on their home, the way her people were blamed and their legacy was bloodied, how she was afraid that her new friends would suffer a similar fate.

_“Robin, come on. Tell us what you want!”_

_“I... I want to know everything. I want to know why our moon shattered. I want to know why Grimm hate humans. I want to know Remnant’s lost history_ — _I want to know why Saul and my people had to die to hide it. But I want everyone there with me when I do. I...”_

_“Robin?”_

_“I want to live! I want to stay with all of you!”_

Luffy wanted her to live too— so that time, he listened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why is Robin's color title Royal Purple?
> 
> Because she is a Queen. End of story.
> 
> Anywho, Robin and the Blank Century is what gave me the idea to blend RWBY and One Piece- Remnant has its own missing history, and Robin would be just as interested. There aren't any poneglyphs, but some artifacts and relics (not THOSE relics) have remained from First Humanity, among other things. 
> 
> Also, Robin's "I want to live" scene is different because fact of the matter is, Enies Lobby wouldn't quite work the way it did in canon. It gets touched on a bit next chapter, and I may go into it more in the future once I've chance to plan everything out more.


	8. Electric Blue

Luffy would look back and decide only good thing about meeting Franky was the part where they actually became friends. The rest of that scenario was perhaps the darkest time of the group’s existence to date. 

The Going Merry had been damaged in an encounter with a springy bastard and earlobe bastard between Vale and Vacuo, so the group decided to head to the city of Vale for repairs. Luffy had been all for it initially because a– fixing Merry was important, and b– the Vytal Festival was starting soon and he wanted to see it (he liked huntsmen— he just didn’t want to be one). However, it seemed that the minute they entered the kingdom everything went wrong. Nami’s temper was on even more of a hair trigger than normal, Sanji refused to get near Amity Coliseum when he saw a team of boys that looked eerily like him compete, Usopp got his arm broken by some star-wearing jackasses, and Robin straight up disappeared on a shopping trip with Chopper. To top it all off, Merry was irreparable and the argument Luffy had with Usopp about it sent the sniper storming off into the city. You’d have to forgive Luffy if he took his frustration out on the star-wearing jackasses and their entire hangout.

The jackasses’ boss, Franky, was not forgiving.

_“COME OUT AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN, STRAW HAT! YOU MESS WITH MY BOYS, YOU MESS WITH ME!”_

_“I’M RIGHT HERE, BIKINI BASTARD! YOU WERE ONE OF THE GUYS WHO BEAT UP USOPP! WE’RE FIGHTING RIGHT NOW, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN I’M NOT GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS FOR THAT!”_

_“YOU’RE_ SUPER _WELCOME TO TRY IT, ASSHOLE!"_

They ended up drawing at least thirty Atlesian Knights to them with the ruckus they caused. Considering the amount of animosity between them, it was surprising Usopp ended up befriending the aforementioned “bikini bastard.” A good thing too, otherwise he would have been alone when Pyrrha Nikos tore Penny Polendina apart. 

Franky valiantly aided the group in the fight against Grimm, rogue Knights, and White Fang Black Ops. While they all survived the Fall of Beacon, they did not come out unscathed. Nami vanished, following a red-eyed woman into a swirling portal. Sanji, gravely wounded, was taken back to Atlas by his biological family before anyone could stop them. The Merry was utterly destroyed. The only solace the group received was that Robin came back and Usopp apologized for his part in the argument. Franky, impressed by and having bonded with the group, offered them sanctuary in his hometown so they could heal and ride out the aftermath of the tragedy. He and his boys had only been in Vale on underworld business, and they had a way out. Luffy agreed, and they stayed in Water 7 (an island territory midway between Sanus and Solitas) for roughly a year. They had time to train, grow, and get to know their host. 

Franky was the oddest individual Luffy had met up to that point, and that was saying something. He drank cola like Zoro drank booze, shouted _Super!_ like it was going out of style, and refused to put on a pair of pants no matter how many times he was accused of being a pervert. He liked to design sea ships, airships, and just about any kind of vehicle you could imagine. He also had been in an accident years earlier, and replaced most of his body with cybernetic enhancements. Then he designed his entire system to run on cola instead dust out of pure _spite_ towards the SDC (Water 7’s leader, Ice-pops, told them the story why— Luffy didn’t pay attention, but none of the others blamed the cyborg for his grudge). He had an unlocked aura, but no semblance. Not because of pride or honor, but because he didn’t think he needed one. Franky was a living weapon, from steel fists, to fire breath, to a _freaking laser_ he built into his hands. He thought he could give himself more firepower than a mere semblance could. 

Following a foiled attempt on Ice-pop’s life and Franky gifting them a new RV (later dubbed the Thousand Sunny), it was time for the Straw Hats to get their friends back. The Franky Family begged Luffy to take Franky with them so he could live his long-forgotten dream of traveling the world in the best ride he ever built. It was a pointless request as Luffy had decided months ago Franky was coming with. The cyborg just needed a little... persuasion, even if it mentally scarred him and half of Water 7 in the process. Thankfully, it didn’t drag out too long. 

_“Here, I’m giving your speedo back. Now, get on this ship!”_

_“Heh, don’t be so cocky. You guys are a bunch of amateurs who can only do minor repairs. If I want my masterpiece to_ stay _in one piece, I guess I don’t have much a choice, now do I? Alright, I’ll be your mechanic!”_

The only thing holding Franky back was himself, and now nothing ever would again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the hardest chapter to write, as so many events surround Franky joining the crew. And somehow I managed to include ties to the Enies Lobby Arc, Arlong Park Arc (or Branwen Camp Arc, more likely), Whole Cake Island Arc, Battle of Haven, AND RWBY Volume 7. 
> 
> I made a reference to CP9 in this chapter, but couldn't find a place for Spandam. So I thought, who's another slimy individual everyone hates and could use a good punch to the face by Franky? Jacques Schnee was perfect, though Franky will have to wait in line for that punch. Said line starts with Willow and goes twice around Remnant.


	9. Charcoal Black

Brook’s addition to the group was unorthodox, to say the least. He was the first member to immediately agree to Luffy’s offer. He was also the first member to die. Kind of. 

After leaving Water 7, Luffy and the others made the difficult decision to go after Nami in Mistral first (Sanji would be apoplectic if they didn’t, but thankfully they also had the assurance that, during a visit to the island, Garp had promised to look out for the chef). Due to international tension, Iceberg could only take them as far as the Animan coast, where they began the long journey with the Sunny. Their path took them through a misty landscape with thin, towering peaks known as the Huīsèshan Pass, which Granny Kokoro had warned them was haunted. People who walked in didn’t always come out. Of course Luffy wanted to take the opportunity to catch a ghost while Usopp tried to convince everyone (mainly himself) that it was all nonsense. Exactly two minutes later, that so-called nonsense emerged from the mist in the form of a _freaking walking, talking, skeleton with an afro_. 

No amount of begging on his friends’ part could have stopped Luffy. 

_“He’s really real! A walking, talking afro-skeleton! Oh my gosh, that is awesome!”_

_“Thank you very much! Such words warm my heart, or they would if I had one anymore!_ Yohohoho _, skull joke!”_

 _“_ Shishishi _, skull joke, I get it! Hey, will you join our group?”_

_“Yes, certainly.”_

Luckily for the rest of the group’s nerves, a dinner conversation in the Sunny revealed that Brook was not a ghost, Grimm, or demon from hell. He was just absurdly lucky. 

He’d been a huntsman once, traveling Remnant with his teammates and others they befriended on the road. Together they slayed Grimm and played music for the masses, until one day they were ambushed by a bandit tribe right there in those misty mountains. They all died, including Brook. However, he had the dubious good fortune of having soul projection as a semblance. He’d ejected his soul right before his body died, and was somehow able to come back to it— though not before it had decomposed down to the bones and afro. Since that day, he’d wandered the mists, as he could not leave without either getting lost or causing a panic amongst the people of Anima. Also because he hadn’t had his shadow in almost two years, but that was a whole other situation. 

Said situation was resolved by sunrise, though it did take a battle against a zombie horde and a shadow-stealing leek bastard. Over the course of the night, Brook proved he had most definitely graduated from a huntsmen academy as he cut down foe after foe with Soul Solid, a shikomizue hidden in his cane that could utilize ice dust. He proved he was skilled, funny, sincere, a little bit perverted, and... lonely. Luffy once again offered the skeleton to travel with them now that he had his shadow back, but this time he declined. The Straw Hats had inspired him to finally leave the Huīsèshan Pass and reunite with a dear friend he’d left behind fifty years ago— a young blue whale faunus named Laboon. Luffy didn’t hesitate to reveal that not only did he know Laboon, but Laboon was still waiting for Brook at the Sanusian coast. Even after all these years, he’d never given up hope Brook would return. 

_“It’s kind of crazy you turned out to be one of the friends he’s been waiting for. Kind of feels like fate, huh? Laboon’s gonna be so happy you’re alright.”_

_“He’s... still there? You’re not joking?”_

_“Yup.”_

_“This... this is wonderful. Even after all this time, he’s still doing okay! I’ve never been this happy in my entire life... I’M SO GLAD TO BE ALIVE!”_

Luffy agreed wholeheartedly— he was glad they were all alive.

And soon, they would all be together again. 

It was a promise. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if my explanation for Brook is 100% plausible for Remnant, but I didn't have the heart to make him not a skeleton. The idea is that as long as most of his body is in tact, he can return to it. The only way to kill him is to destroy his bones entirely. I imagine there being tiers of semblances, with upper tiers being the closest thing to magic without actually being magic. Petal Burst and Glyphs are on this tier, and so is Brook's. I hope this works!
> 
> And the misty mountain range they find him in is the same one Maria fought Tock in. You can bet one of those zombies was a crocodile faunus with stitches on her neck. (Moria has the ability to manipulate shadows in this world, and can remove them, but its not as strong as it is in canon.) I also have this idea that Brook found Maria after she had been blinded and helped get her to safety. Since she was blind, she didn't see a skeleton and didn't freak out.


	10. Epilogue- In Good Times and Bad

Luffy and his friends would eventually make it to Mistral, and save Nami from her darkness. They would travel to Atlas and get Sanji away from the Vinsmokes. They would make new friends: a tattooed street doctor, a barrier-making super fan, a noble whale shark faunus, a fiery blonde bombshell, an elegant but determined ex-heiress, a shadowy cat faunus, a scythe-wielding girl with a red hood, and uncountable others. They would see things that no one could ever imagine, and take in each one with wonder. 

They would also find themselves embroiled in a war several millennia in the making. They would fight the most difficult battles of their lives, learn the secrets of the world that were long thought erased, and suffer the most devastating of losses. 

But you know what? In the long run, they didn’t care. 

They still had their dreams, and each other.

And that’s all that mattered. 

* * *

_Gather up all of the crew, it’s time to ship out Bink’s brew,_

_Sing a song and play along for all the ocean’s wide!_

_After all is said and done,_

_You’ll end up a skeleton!_

_So spread your tale from dawn till dusk upon these foamy seas!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! Sorry Jinbe didn't get a chapter, this was getting a little long as is. He's on my list of characters I may want to do a one-shot for, along with Trafalgar Law.
> 
> I loved writing for this crossover, so I'm coming back to it in the future. Updates just may be sporadic, given I'm trying to land a job and work on my original writing at the same time. 
> 
> So until then, stay tuned!


End file.
